The post delves into epistemic and aleatoric uncertainty in reinforcement learning, highlighting the role of curiosity in exploring uncertain environments.
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Isaac Clayton is an MIT undergrad interested in compilers and AI, with hobbies in art and sports. He has interned in software engineering and enjoys exploring tech and languages.
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Curiosity in reinforcement learning can be modeled to enhance exploration and learning, as demonstrated by the Random Network Distillation method that addresses the Noisy TV Problem.
The post discusses the differences between libraries and frameworks in programming, emphasizing the concept of 'inversion of control.' It explains how libraries allow developers to maintain control over their code, while framework...
6.6The Chisel
2026-01-31 • software development webassembly team crdt rust programming
The post discusses the author's journey in developing a CRDT library called Together, highlighting its optimizations and the role of AI in modern software development.
Isocore aims to redefine the web by promoting local-first applications, real-time data synchronization, and user control over data, challenging the current centralized web model.
The post examines the shift from symbolic reasoning to statistical methods, advocating for the integration of symbolic grounding in programming languages through language models and property-based testing.
6.3On craft and AI
2026-02-04 • programming art craftsmanship human factors ai
The author explores the intersection of programming, art, and AI, advocating for human agency and the preservation of craftsmanship in the face of technological advancement.
Neopack is a lightweight library for tag-length-value serialization, offering simplicity and efficiency for IDL and RPC workloads.
The post examines the difference between immutable laws and self-imposed rules, highlighting how understanding agency and beliefs can enhance personal freedom and decision-making.
The author imagines a world where competitive home-building teams replace exercise, proposing that this could significantly increase the US housing supply while enhancing fitness.
This post creatively intertwines themes of language, memory, and programming, advocating for public accountability and the preservation of the open internet through rhythmic prose.
Programming should be viewed as theory building, where mental models are crucial for debugging and collaboration, especially in the context of AI tools.
A personal reflection on a brief conversation with computer science icon Jeff Dean, exploring admiration, missed opportunities for deeper dialogue, and the complexities of meaningful communication.
5.4Take another turn
2026-02-10 • technology philosophy social sciences cooperation ai
The post argues that cooperation is essential for societal progress, and that beliefs about technological singularity can influence individual actions and societal dynamics.
Personal growth through rowing inspires reflections on meaningful entrepreneurship, collaboration, and the need for a shift towards a more productive economy.
4.4Precommitment
2026-02-11 • motivation discipline commitment psychology habits
Precommitment is a strategy to bind oneself to decisions that help resist future temptations and ensure cooperation with one's future self.
A custom tool is introduced to help find optimal weekend flights by visualizing cost versus time spent at the destination, addressing limitations of existing flight search tools.
A brief reflection on a busy day, featuring a philosophical quote about mathematics and commentary on cultural issues and legislation.
Habits play a crucial role during life transitions, requiring conscious effort to maintain or change them based on environmental and social cues.
A personal update on writing progress, academic pursuits, and reflections on time management and decision-making challenges.
The author reflects on returning to Cambridge for MIT classes, expressing excitement for a challenging course amidst the frigid weather.
The author trained a neural network with logic gates to learn a 3×3 kernel function for Conway’s Game of Life. The neural network was compiled to bit-parallel C, resulting in a 1,744× speedup. The author replicated the research on...
0Seeds of a Digital Garden
2025-04-25 • writing digital garden outline essays ideas
The text discusses the concept of a digital garden, which is a digital space used to cultivate ideas. It outlines techniques and habits to tend to the digital garden, such as using questions as seeds for ideas, creating outlines, ...
The text discusses the need for a universal browser backend similar to LLVM for browsers to keep the open web resilient against the whims of a few vendors. It emphasizes the democratization of programming languages and the potenti...